Time and Again
by Artemis Trueshot
Summary: Kagome had never felt so cold, so betrayed than she had at the moment. she didn't know what happened to cause the change in them, her family, and the change in her.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to Inuyasha, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Time and Again

Prologue

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She couldn't help but let the tears fall. Her agony could be felt and was almost tangible. She sat there, her back to a tree with drooping branches; raindrops hitting her and plastering her ebony hair to her face and back. Her uniform was all but ruined, clinging to her like a second skin. Her blue-gray eyes were dull as they looked out into the rain; remembering, reliving, and feeling; feeling the pain of the abandonment.

She didn't know how things had turned out the way they had. She wondered now, stuck in the recesses of her mind, on how things had gotten so out of hand. What had changer them; what had changed her?

Five years of searching. Hard years of blood, sweat and tears. Her friends were her family, but now…

They had restored the Shikon Jewel, Naraku being purified and destroyed but the combined powers of the little band of mis-matched heroes. Yet… something had been off. They had looked at her differently; in a new light. They didn't think that she'd be useful; that they'd have to save her and struggle to kill Naraku, but that had not been so.

After that, they hadn't been the same. They weren't as close-knit. Sango and Miroku left back to the Demon Exterminator village, taking Shippo with them while she and Inuyasha had returned to Kaede's village. Something had been off then; when they had parted.

No hugs, no promises, no love. She felt so alone in that moment, but nothing could compare to how she felt at the moment. Now, she felt tired, alone, and betrayed.

At first, it had made sense, that after the restoration of the Shikon, that everything would go back to the way things were. She didn't think; she didn't count on Inuyasha turning on her. She didn't count on Inuyasha purposely throwing her sword away from him and tearing into her shoulder; growling and hissing as her blood stained the ground, her clothes, and his face. Her blood had dripped; had flowed from her body, yet she could feel nothing.

It had happened so fast, it was all a blur to her. She knew that she could never be romantic with Inuyasha and had settled herself as only being a close friend; but at that moment, she didn't know what to believe, and the reality at the time… she just couldn't believe it.

All of the work, all of the loss, everything… all had been thrown to the wind when he had attacked her. She didn't know why, and she supposed she never would, because when the horrible reality wriggled its ugly head, she had screamed. She had screamed long and hard. Her scream was full of hurt, pain, betrayal, disbelief, sadness, and desperate.

With a sad smile, Kagome realized that she hadn't been completely forsaken. She had never noticed; had never known that Kirara had followed at a distance; that she had disappeared on a hunt by the Demon Exterminator village, and was filled with such concern, that she had followed the pair at a distance.

It was then that Kirara had made herself known and defended Kagome; tackling Inuyasha away from her, and in the next moment, Kagome had been slung over Kirara's back and they had taken off into the air.

Smiling softly, Kagome rubbed the cream and black fur of her one and only companion, the only companion that hadn't abandoned her. She felt so bad, so sad that she had never shown so much compassion to Kirara and there she had been, the only one to hear her distress and to help her in her time of need.

Now though, things would be different. It would be miko and cat demon, Kagome and Kirara. They would survive and forever be companions, friends and family.

With this, Kagome stood up, shifting her valuable bundle to a more comfortable position and took off into the direction of the Bone Eater's well.

Looking around her one last time at the beauty of the past, of the Feudal States Era, Kagome jumped into the well, taking her friend and the Shikon with her.

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Thanks for reading, I hope everyone liked it! 


	2. Raining Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Inuyasha related- They belong to Rumiko Takahashi

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Time and Again

Chapter 1 Raining Memories

It was raining again. Though sad, today was very beautiful. With the clouds blocking the sun, a soft yellow haze drifted through the fluffy clouds and covered the land below. Rain fell onto every surface, washing away everything and anything; purifying the world with its other-worldly power.

To Kagome, it was a beautiful day, one where she could spend her time soaking in the beauty of her world, no matter how corrupt it may be. Everything was forgotten as the heavens cried, for what reasons, she didn't know, nor did she really care. As she stood out in the drizzle, she felt all of her emotions flowing off her, all her stress and worries, they all washed away.

Smiling ever so softly, she spun around. Her uniform skirt bellowed, and her hair flew out around her, send water droplets into the air and down with gravity to soak into the ground, where a cycle would begin again.

Falling to the ground, her hair out around her, she smiled to the sky. Water droplets continued to descend, and she felt so pure, she felt as if she were young again, worrying only about cake and butterflies.

Tilting her head to where her home resided, she saw her loving companion run toward her. Her loving, and only companion that she trusted with her life.

"Kirara…" It was but a whisper, but Kirara heard it and sped toward her new mistress, hurling herself onto her chest and nuzzling into her neck while purring loudly.

Giggling lightly, Kagome slowly rose onto her feet as Kirara re-positioned herself to sit more comfortably on her right shoulder.

"Shall we go in now, Kirara?" Mewing an affirmative, Kagome smiled once more as she tilted her head back to allow the water to slide down her face. Closing her eyes as she spread her senses, she sighed and began to walk home.

"Kagome, come on, let's go already!"

"Alright…" Kagome said as she finished the last touches to her paper. Gathering her belongings together, Kagome slung her bag onto her shoulder and placed her paper on her teacher's desk to be graded as she headed towards her friends.

"Gee Kagome, you're such a perfectionist!"

This statement made her small group of friends laugh as Kagome huffed playfully.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Kristy."

"Sure you don't…"

With that, the whole group laughed, Kagome included.

"So what should we do this weekend, since we have no school Monday?" Kristy said, flipping her shoulder-length blonde her over her shoulder.

"I think we should go see 300!" Tyler, the "I-worship-action-movies-4eva!" member of their group replied.

"Well, I think we should go to the library and study, our exams are coming up soon aren't they?" Jordan said as she plucked Tyler's red baseball cap off his black curls.

"Is it always study, study, study with you?" Tyler said as he snatched his cap back and placed it back onto his head.

"Not all the time…"

Once more, they laughed, out of good humor, mind you.

"What do you think Kagome?" Tyler asked.

"Well, I want to go to that new art museum that they opened up, the one over by 'Kimmi's'."

"Oh, the one with the Japanese exhibit?" Kristy asked.

"Yep."

"Well, I'm game!"

"Me too."

"We just can't go watch a gory movie?"

The three girls glared at Tyler.

"Okay, okay, I'll go too.

Saturday

Kagome had chosen to wear blue-jean hip huggers, a plain white shirt, and some white tennis shoes to the art museum. After convincing Kirara to come along, she fastened a blue collar around Kirara's neck and put a leash into her black purse. Grabbing her jean-jacket, she hoisted Kirara into her arms and left her home.

Humming softly, she ignored all of the weird stares that she and her companion got because of her two tails. It was nothing new, anyone who asked, she told them that Kirara had a deformity, and they always believed her.

Arriving at her destination, she saw none of her friends there. Deciding that they'd catch up later, Kagome walked through the entrance and found herself in a wide, homey lobby. Walking off to the side, she grabbed a brochure. Making sure to look for any signs against pets and finding none, she looked at the map located inside of the brochure. After finding a suitable place, she began to travel around, marveling at all the sights until she came upon the Feudal States Era exhibit.

Gasping, Kagome whimpered into Kirara's fur after reading of the legend of Midoriko and the Shikon. Although she had come to terms on the whole thing, didn't mean that she didn't like it. In all actuality, she had hated it. She didn't hate every moment, there were the perks, but there had been so much lose, blood, and death over one little jewel. The death and destruction that had followed the small rock had been her mind, pointless and unneeded. In her mind, one shouldn't need such things to be strong, in reality, it wasn't your strength. How many times had she seen demons and man alike be torn apart after having the jewel or a shard of the jewel taken away from them?

Even Koga, the mighty and strong wolf prince, was no match once his fake strength was taken away. Naraku was no different, once the Jewel had been taken and purified; he had been easy pickings for the small group to wipe clean-off the face of the land.

Shaking out of her thoughts, she cleared her mind, nuzzled Kirara closer to her person and began to wander around the exhibit.

So many memories began to resurface from the small corner of her mind where she had tucked them. Sad, happy, and all types of memories re-surfaced as she ventured around the little museum, re-living the past with Kirara.

But she jerked to a halt and promptly collapsed to the ground when she saw it. That thing that's supposed to be real, but wasn't, couldn't be real.

Shaking horribly, her eyes dilated, she stared at what was but wasn't the Tetsaiga. It just couldn't be the Tetsaiga, the mighty demonic blade that had belonged to Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha…"

She visibly winced; her name had come out so soft and hoarse, she could barely recognize that the voice belonged to her.

Tears began to fall as she re-lived that moment before Kirara came barreling into the clearing where everything had changed –no, where her outlook- changed. Her shoulder, where Inuyasha had so cruelly ripped into her began to throb and bleed.

Gasping, Kagome tried to reign in her feelings, but the memories, the pain, the betrayal all rushed at her and her whole body began to pulse in time with her heart. Her heart that was fused with the Shikon. Her heart that was the Shikon.

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Well, there's the first chapter. My computer broke down, so I typed this up on my sister's laptop. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this Let me know what you think in a review and thanks to all that did 


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